Friday, August 20, 2010

Leathers, Lasers, and Molds

I have a few tiny updates today, most of them boot related. But first, some cape stuff.

This is a test I did with my new brush on urethane. I applied it with a spatula, and it went on very thin, and did not pull back from the silicone. The color is all wrong, but I was more interested in testing the properties of the urethane than its coloring abilities.



My pal Philip Wise over at www.rebelscum.com did a couple of laser cut samples for me. The idea is that when properly sized, these will be used on the bottom soles of the boots. These are just samples, but came out very well.



RMS laser sent me another sample of the pattern I sent. This time they got it right, and cut four different depths for me. Or was it five. I guess this is an interesting lesson in the process, as it took me about 2 months to get this sample from them. Yikes. Hard to do things quickly on this project.



I used my Body Double from Smooth-On to make a quick mold of the leather.



And then brushed in some urethane. This will help me determine which depth setting is right for me.



One of the things I really like about the body double molding compound is that it cures in just a few minutes. I don't have to wait overnight to demold, and then run urethane. Good stuff.

I also wanted to share a little product that I have found to be very handy in this type of activity:



Though they are a bit more expensive than your typical plastic party cups, what is great about them is how shallow they are. With party cups, it can be a pain in the rear to mix the stuff up properly, especially when you are only dealing with tiny little amounts of the stuff.

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